5 Reasons to Retrofit Your Home with Foam Insulation

When enhancing your home's energy efficiency and comfort, retrofitting with foam insulation in Plymouth is a highly beneficial choice. Spray foam insulation, particularly when installed by professionals like those at Lewis Insulation, provides various advantages that can significantly boost your home’s performance. Here are five compelling reasons to consider retrofitting with foam insulation:

1. Enhanced Energy Efficiency

One of the primary benefits of foam insulation is its ability to significantly improve energy efficiency. Unlike traditional insulation materials, foam insulation creates an airtight seal that minimizes heat transfer. In winter, this keeps warm air inside, while in summer, it ensures that cool air remains indoors. As a result, your heating and cooling systems work less, leading to reduced energy consumption and lower utility bills. Over time, the savings on energy costs can offset the initial investment in foam insulation.

2. Improved Indoor Comfort

Foam insulation greatly contributes to a more comfortable living environment by eliminating drafts and maintaining a consistent temperature throughout your home. Traditional insulation can settle over time or allow air leaks, leading to uneven temperatures and discomfort. Foam insulation expands to fill gaps and cracks, ensuring your home remains comfortable year-round. This enhancement in indoor climate can improve your overall quality of life, making your living space more enjoyable.

3. Superior Moisture Control

Effective moisture control is crucial for maintaining a healthy home environment. Foam insulation serves as a moisture barrier, preventing water vapor from penetrating walls and other areas of your home. This is particularly advantageous in humidity-prone areas like basements and crawl spaces. By controlling moisture levels, foam insulation helps prevent mold and mildew growth, which can lead to respiratory issues and structural damage. Retrofitting with foam insulation ensures your home remains dry and protected from moisture-related problems.

4. Increased Property Value

Investing in foam insulation can also elevate your property’s value. Energy-efficient homes are increasingly attractive to buyers, and retrofitting with foam insulation can make your home stand out in the real estate market. Potential buyers are often willing to pay a premium for homes that promise lower energy bills and greater comfort. Moreover, the durability and longevity of foam insulation can be a significant selling point, as it typically requires less maintenance than traditional insulation materials.

5. Environmental Benefits

Foam insulation is an environmentally friendly option that contributes to a greener home. By enhancing energy efficiency, foam insulation helps reduce your carbon footprint by lowering the energy needed for heating and cooling. This decrease in energy consumption leads to fewer greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in a smaller environmental impact. Additionally, many foam insulation products are manufactured with eco-friendly materials and designed to have minimal environmental impact throughout their lifespan.

In summary, retrofitting your home with foam insulation offers a multitude of benefits, including enhanced energy efficiency, improved indoor comfort, superior moisture control, increased property value, and environmental advantages. With its eco-friendly properties and potential for long-term cost savings, foam insulation is a worthwhile investment for homeowners seeking to improve their home's performance. If you're considering retrofitting your home, consult with a professional to explore your options and determine the best solution for your needs. For more about foam insulation in Plymouth or the surrounding Twin Cities area, call us today at 763-477-2612 or contact us!

 

Pros and Cons of Foam Insulation

Over the winter, insulation acts as one of the primary barriers to heat escaping. In the summer, it keeps the heat out and cool air in. Both of these impact the overall efficiency of your home. Especially when living somewhere with such a wide range of temperatures and winters as harsh as Minnesota experiences, insulation is an important piece to making sure your home stays comfortable all year round. That’s why we’ve consolidated a list of pros and cons about foam insulation in Rogers! Here at Lewis Insulation, we have experience working with multiple kinds of insulation, but foam is one of the most popular – and for a reason!

Pros

Increased energy efficiency.

While this can be said of any insulation choice, spray foam insulation improves the thermal envelope around the home, allowing less air to escape the home and keeping your home warm or cool as desired for a lower cost! Increased energy efficiency can help you spend less in heating and cooling bills, saving you money all year round.

Contributes to structural strength of home.

Foam insulation has also been proven to increase the structural strength of a home! Due to how spray foam insulation is installed and it’s expansive properties, it can increase the durability of the home.

Superior R-value.

When compared to traditional rolled or blown in insulation, foam insulation boasts a higher R-value. This means that less heat can be conducted through the material, making it a more efficient insulator than many of its competitors.

Moisture resistance.

Additionally, foam insulation has the highest moisture resistance of commonly used insulations. In fact, FEMA has classified it as having the highest resistance to flood damage! So, if you live in an area where moisture is a common issue within the house – foam insulation is a great choice!

Cons

Requires professional installation.

Spray foam insulation is not a DIY project. It requires proper and precise mixing of chemicals to ensure an effective installation and can pose safety risks if handled incorrectly. A professional has to undergo training to be able to properly handle foam insulation.

Health concerns during installation.

Due to the nature of mixing chemicals, foam insulation can pose a health risk if the installer is not fitted with the proper PPE. Gloves, eye protection and masks are all strictly required during installation and handling of spray foam installation to avoid any health risks or injuries.

Failing to adhere to manufacturer’s guidelines causes long-term issues.

Without proper experience and understanding of manufacturer’s guidelines, there can be long-term issues caused by unprofessional installation. Failing to adhere to guidelines can cause prolonged odors, oily residue and ineffective insulation. However, a professional understands the manufacturer’s guidelines before going into any job.

Luckily, all of the cons are negated when you choose to hire a professional like Lewis Insulation! We understand the manufacturer’s guidelines for each insulation we work with and ensure that each contractor on site wears the proper PPE to keep them safe.

Is it time to have new foam insulation installed in your home in Rogers or the surrounding Twin Cities area? Call Lewis Insulation today at 763-477-2612 or contact us!

What Do You Know About Spray Foam Insulation?

How much do you know about spray foam insulation? We are here to tell you more! If you weren’t aware, spray foam insulation offers many wonderful benefits and is easier to install than you might think. At Lewis Insulation, we specialize in spray foam insulation for the Twin Cities area and have put together a list of some of the need-to-know facts about spray foam. And when you’re ready to learn more about one of the most environmentally friendly options in insulation, give us a call here at Lewis Insulation! We look forward to working with you.

For one, using eco-friendly spray foam save you money in the long run. It can also help prevent future problems in the home with its high efficiency and dependability. For example, spray foam insulation helps prevent mold, over use of your heating or cooling systems and more.

Spray foam insulation can also make your home more environmentally friendly and run far more efficiently. The countless positives to using environmentally friendly spray foam are enough reason to make the switch over to this cost-effective insulation. Why is spray foam insulation the smarter, greener choice? Here are a few reasons why:
Spray foam insulation offers great energy savings
It provides a moisture barrier Offers an air-tight seal Is cost-effective
Can prevent heating and cooling waste
Has high R-value
Reaches hard to reach places
It’s a powerful insulator
Has a long-life span
And more

These are just some of the reasons spray foam insulation is a great, environmentally friendly choice in insulation. Closed cell spray foam insulation is also the only type of insulation material that can add structural integrity to your home. The National Association of Home Builders Research Center did some testing and found that spray-applied polyurethane foam insulation increased rack and shear strength two to three times. They compared spray foam insulation between wood and steel stud wall panels with glass fiber insulation with standard stick-built component.

The benefits to spray foam insulation are endless, so it is no wonder why more and more homeowners are making the switch over to environmentally friendly spray foam.

Are you interested in learning more about spray foam insulation and how it can work for you and your home or business? Contact us at Lewis Insulation and we can tell you even more about closed cell spray foam insulation for your Twin Cities property, give you a free estimate and then schedule a time to come to your home or business to do the work.

Foam Insulation: Common Misconceptions

Closed cell spray foam insulation is still a relatively new type of insulation, so there are some myths and misconceptions about it. Since we install this type of foam insulation in the Twin Cities area, we thought we would take the time to discuss some of these misconceptions and to set the record straight about a few things.

• Closed cell foam insulation should only be installed by professionals. This is not a do it yourself project. Because of the chemicals used and the way they have to be mixed and applied to the walls, it takes a skilled and knowledgeable hand to do this. You should make sure the company you hire to install foam insulation has plenty of experience installing it. Lewis Insulation has been installing closed cell spray foam insulation for years.
• Many people seem to think this type of insulation is too expensive to install in their homes, but this is also not necessarily true. It is affordable for most homeowners, and it works well in just about every type of home out there. It has a high R-value, which means it insulates very well. And that is great news for people who live in Minnesota!
• There is a big difference between open cell spray foam insulation and closed cell spray foam insulation. Open cell has a lower R-value, and the way it is installed in your home is different too. It is soft and almost pillow-like. Closed cell is harder to the touch and has a high R-value.
• Foam insulation does not hold in moisture. It will not lead to mold and mildew problems if your home is properly ventilated. We also offer attic ventilation services, so we can help with that too if you need it.
• Foam insulation will not settle either, like other types of insulation. This type of insulation should last you for many years, and you might not ever have to worry about having it redone again. Your home will have to undergo the insulation process only one time and that will be it.

These are only a few of the misconceptions we hear about foam insulation. If you have any other questions about it, please don’t hesitate to call us and ask!

 

Do you want to learn more about foam insulation in the Twin Cities? Call us at Lewis Insulation at 763-477-2612 or you can contact us to get a Free Estimate.